When last we left the conversation about the pending nomination of Jennifer May-Parker for the now 8-year long vacancy in North Carolina’s Eastern District, our own Sen. Richard Burr had yet to return the “blue slip” needed either to allow the nomination to proceed to a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee or to prevent that from happening.

May-Parker, you may recall, would be the first African-American to serve as a judge in the 44-county Eastern District, home to a significant minority population.

Unfortunately nothing’s changed. The senator still won’t commit.

It’s not that difficult a process, really.

As shown in the blue slip here, Burr just needs to check one or the other: approve, and allow the nominee to proceed to a hearing, or oppose, and clear the way for a new nominee.

But doing nothing means simply that May-Parker’s nomination will languish long enough to keep that seat open into the mid-term elections in November 2014.

By then, North Carolina will have two open federal court slots, with Middle District Judge James A. Beaty Jr. taking senior status in June.